UNDAUNTED: Dr. Elisha Kent Kane (1820–1857)
If a mid-19th-century physician and gentleman from a distinguished Philadelphia family could be called a "rock star," Elisha Kent Kane was it. He may be the most famous scientist you never heard of. Recognized in his time as a hero of science and humanity, he was the king of all media.
Kane's exploits from two expeditions to the Arctic (1850-51; 1853-55) were extolled in the new illustrated newspapers, in photographs, in books, and especially in popular panoramas—huge moving paintings with special effects that sometimes stretched 360 degrees around a room to illustrate famous battles, views of cities, or, in Kane's case, polar scenes.
He died at the age of 37, in Havana, Cuba. His funeral procession from New Orleans to Philadelphia drew thousands of mourners in each city along the way. This outpouring of public grief for America's first Arctic hero culminated in Kane's body being laid in state in Independence Hall, an honor accorded to only a handful of other notable 19th-century luminaries.
Images: (above, left) Artist unknown, after Alonzo Chappell, E. K. Kane, 1862. APS; (above, right) Skull and Lower Jaw of Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus), collected by E. K. Kane, Greenland, 1850-51. The Academy of Natural Sciences
